THE 50-30-20 BUDGETING RULE

A good way to gauge whether you can live a comfortable financial life is to apply the 50-30-20 budgeting rule, in which 50 percent of income covers necessities, 30 percent covers discretionary items and 20 percent is for savings. From here, you can figure out whether your income is sufficient to cover cost-of-living expenses in your city.

Anaheim, Calif.: $69,243

50 percent for necessities: $34,621

30 percent for discretionary spending: $20,773

20 percent for savings: $13,849

Income needed to live comfortably: $69,243

You need to make over $8,000 more than the median income to live comfortably in Anaheim. Increasing housing costs could be part of the reason why there’s an $8,000 gap between the city’s median income and the ideal income.

In January 2014, the median home value was $456,300 before climbing to $558,400 by January 2017. Meanwhile, in 2014, Anaheim’s median household income was $59,272, according to a Southern California Association of Governments report. But according to the latest Census data, Anaheim’s median income today is $60,752 — an increase of only about 2.5 percent against a 22 percent increase in home values.